QatarEnergy Signs 3 Million Tonnes per Annum U.S. LNG Purchase Agreement

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 29, QatarEnergy signed a 20-year liquefied natural gas (LNG) sale and purchase agreement with Australia's Woodside Energy, under which it will purchase up to 3 million tonnes per annum of LNG from a liquefied natural gas project under construction in Louisiana, United States, with deliveries scheduled to begin in 2030. On the same day, QatarEnergy explicitly incorporated overseas long-term procurement into its global trading arrangements to address potential future transportation disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.

Under the agreement, Woodside will begin supplying LNG after the second train of the Louisiana LNG project comes online, and will increase supply to up to 3 million tonnes per annum after the third train is commissioned. Delivery will be on a free-on-board (FOB) basis, with QatarEnergy responsible for lifting and subsequent transportation. The project's base phase is planned to have an annual capacity of 16.5 million tonnes, with LNG production expected to begin in 2029.

QatarEnergy previously signed two long-term purchase agreements with U.S.-based Cheniere Energy on October 22, covering the Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi LNG export facilities, totaling up to 4 million tonnes per annum, with contracts extending through the end of 2054. Combined with the new Woodside agreement, the company's recently signed long-term U.S. LNG purchase agreements total up to 7 million tonnes per annum, with some volumes still conditional on the relevant expansion projects reaching a final investment decision.

QatarEnergy CEO Saad Al-Kaabi confirmed in an interview with Reuters on October 29 that the company is negotiating with other suppliers, including Venture Global, and expects to continue signing long-term purchase agreements with terms of 20 to 25 years before the end of 2026, with a target procurement scale significantly higher than current levels, though he did not provide specific figures.

The company plans to leverage QatarEnergy's trading business and approximately 200 LNG carriers to build a cross-market trading portfolio, participating in international market trading through LNG supplies from the United States and other origins when transportation through the Strait of Hormuz is disrupted. Al-Kaabi stated that the company had previously evaluated the option of building alternative transportation pipelines, but ultimately did not adopt it because pipelines and compressor stations would face the same security risks.